Clothes washing machines



Jan. 13, 1970 P. w. DOUGLAS CLOTHES WASHING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov.

oooooeonaa oovoooobac oooooooo looooooaol looomcvououo OOOOOOOBDI 00OQn Jam 13, 1970 P. w. DOUGLAS CLOTHESWASHING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 2l, 1967 INVENTOR PEYToN W. DOUGLAS United States Patent O 3,488,982 CLOTHES WASHING MACHINES Peyton W. Douglas, Hemus Point, N.Y. asslgnor to Blackstone Corporation, a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 684,841 Int. Cl. D06f 29/02, 35/00 U.S. Cl. 68-23.3 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clothes washer having a perforate extractor tub and a concentric collector tank mounted on a vertical shaft resiliently mounted in a base and having a bottom conical member frictionally engaging a cooperating conical member on the base, generally vertical arms extending from the conical member on said shaft to the periphery of the collector tank and resilient means connecting said arms intermediate their length with the base.

This invention relates to clothes washing machines and particularly to domestic washing machines in which both washing and centrifugal water extraction operat1ons are carried out in a single perforate tub.

The art of clothes washing machines is well developed and there are many washing machines of the same general type as the present invention where both washing and extraction are carried out in a single tub. These machines are of two types, one having an imperforate tub and the other having a perforate tub and an external water container. Typical of the rst group is the structure shown in my Patent 3,083,558 issued Apr. 2, 1963.

There are basically two important problems in the clothes washing machine eld. They are:

(a) Supporting the tub with the minimum of structural elements in such manner that off-balance tendency of the machine is overcome and vibration eliminated, and

(b) Driving the tub in a simple manner embracing two speed operation while protecting the drive from access by the washing water.

I have invented a new perforate tub washing machine structure which provides an elastic vertical support for the rotary tub and its surrounding water container and which reduced the problems of unbalance generally associated with such structures due to uneven loads.

Preferably I provide a clothes washing machine having a perforate clothes receptacle rotatable about a vertical axis, a xed receptacle surrounding said perforate receptacle and normally concentric therewith, a base spaced from the xed receptacle, a iirst vertical shaft mounted at one end in a resilient member iixed in said base, a drive transmission on the other end of said shaft intermediate the tixed receptacle and base, a second shaft concentric with said first shaft extending from said transmission to said perforate receptacle and journalled for rotation in the fixed receptacle, a generally conical member fixed at its apex to said vertical shaft adjacent the resilient member at said one end, said conical member having a portion between its apex and base supported on a like cooperative area on the base, spaced generally vertical arms extending from the base of said conical member to the fixed receptacle, and resilient means connecting said spaced arms intermediate their length with the base. Preferably the resilient means connecting the spaced arms and base are springs lying alongside and generally parallel to said arms. A second conical member is preferably provided adjacent the upper end of said vertical shaft having brake means engageable with said drive transmission in the wash cycle ice of said transmission and released from said transmission during the extraction cycle.

In the foregoing general description of my invention I have set out certain purposes, objects and advantages of my invention. Other purposes, objects and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view, partly broken away and partly in vertical section, showing a clothes washer according to my invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line II-II of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings I have illustrated an external cabinet 10 enclosing the washing machine. The cabinet 10 has four side walls, a top 11 and base 12. The top is provided with a central opening 13 providing access into the interior of the cabinet. The base 12 is provided with depending peripheral flanges 14 secured to the cabinet walls by welding or some equivalent means. A central opening 15 is provided in a generally upstanding conical portion 16 of the base 12 to receive a part of the structure hereafter described.

A vertical tube 17 is mounted at its lower end in a resilient member 18 which is xed to conical portion 16 of the base at the opening 15. A conical member 19 is fixed to supporting legs H and movable around conical members 16 and 20 overlying the conical portion 16 of base 12. A dampener pad 20 is fixed to conical portion 16 between it and conical member 19. The opposite end of tube 17 carries an inverted conical member 21 having a brake shoe 22 adjacent its upper edge. Within the tube 17 is located drive shaft 23. The upper end of the drive shaft 23 projects into a transmission unit 24. The lower end of the shaft 23 is of reduced diameter and is mounted in an annular thrust bearing 25 lixed in flexible mount 18. The lower end of shaft 23 below bearings 25 carries a drive pulley 26 connected by a belt 27 to motor 28 on base 12.

The transmission unit 24 is constructed and functions in the manner described in Lodge Patent No. 2,733,610 dated Feb. 7, 1956, and No. 2,841,260 dated July l, 1958. Projecting upwardly from the transmission unit 24 is tube 29 which passes through a bearing and seal 30 mounted in a resilient member 31 which is in turn mounted in an axial opening 32 in collector tank 33. A perforate tub 34 is mounted on the upper end of tube 29. A shaft 35 extends from the interior of transmission unit 24, through the tube 29 and suitable bearings 36 and 37 and projects out of the upper end of tube 29 to receive agitator 38.

The transmission unit 24 normally rests on brake shoe 22 in conical member 21. The motor 28 is of the reversing type and when operated in one direction it acts through transmission unit 24 to oscillate the agitator 38 within the perforate tub 34. When the motor rotates in the opposite direction it raises the transmission unit 24 and perforate tub 34 by means of clutch 40 which is constructed and operates as described in my Patent 3,215,232 issued Nov. 2, 1965. The transmission unit is raised away from brake shoe 22 and rotates with shaft 23 to provide the extraction operation for removing water from clothes in tub 34.

It is, of course, obvious that there will be a tendency for the tub 34 and supporting structure to nod or tilt somewhat during the normal washing operation. However, the problem of nodding or tilting becomes signi-ficant when the tub 34 and transmission 24 are raised for the extraction operation. At this point any unbalance in the weight of clothes or water at the higher extraction speed tends to throw the tub out of its normal axis. To overcome this, I provide spaced arms S0 connected at one end to the outer periphery of cone 19 and at the other end to -iixed receptacle or collector tank 33 at its outer periphery. A resilient member 51 preferably in the form of a spring is connected to base 12 at one end and toarms 50, intermediate their length, at the other end. Preferably an adjustment means 52` is provided between the resilient member 51 and the arms 50 so as to permit adjustment of and balancing of the forces exerted around the collector tank or fixed receptacle 33.

The structure of the present invention provides many advantages over prior art structures. It removes the transmission out of contact with any water containing receptacle and is not contacted by water in any receptacle at any time. It provides a very simple and inexpensive but very effective stabilized support for both the fixed receptacle as well as for the clothes containing and extraction receptacle. It eliminates the need for dynamic balancing rings previously used on extraction receptacles, the weight of the collection tank or fixed receptacle 33 actingV as a static damper in conjunction with the stabilizing springs 51.

While I have illustrated and described a presently preferred embodiment of my invention in the foregoing specification, it will be understood that this invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A clothes washing machine comprising a perforate clothes receptacle rotatable about a vertical axis, a fixed collector tank surrounding and normally concentric with said perforate tank, a base spaced from said collector tank, a first vertical shaft mounted at one end in a resilient member fixed in said base, a drive transmission at the opposite end of said shaft spaced from the collector tank intermediate the collector tank and base, a second shaft concentric with said first shaft extending from said transmission to said perforate receptacle and journalled for rotation in the collector tank, a generally conical member fixed at its apex to said vertical shaft adjacent the said one end, said conical member having a portion between its apex and base supported on a like cooperative area on the base, spaced generally vertical arms extending from the base of said conical member to the collector tank, and resilient means extending generally parallel to said arms connecting said arms intermediate their length to said base.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the resilient means connecting said arms to said base are springs having adjustment means for varying the tension exerted thereby.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the upper end of said first shaft is provided with an inverted conical member having an inner friction member adapted to receive and hold the transmission in a lowered position thereof during rotation of the first shaft in one direction, said transmission moving vertically upwardly from said lowered position toward the collector tank when said first shaft is reversed in its direction of rotation from said one direction.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first vertical shaft includes an outer tube and an inner drive shaft rotatable with respect thereto and extending into the transmisison and the second shaft includes an outer tube fixed to said transmission and to the perforate tub and an inner shaft extending into the transmission and out of said outer tube to receive an agitator and reversible drive means drivingly connect to the drive shaft of said first vertical shaft for selectively rotating it in opposite directions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,083,558 4/1963 Douglas 68-23 l 3,247,689 4/1966 Wasemann 68-23 3,269,544 8/ 1966 Brucken et al. 68-23 X 3,285,419 11/1966 Smith 68-23 X WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner 

